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Friday, December 23, 2011

I have been thinking about what kind of treats I should make for neighborhood gifts this Christmas. I intended to give away English Toffee, but I started making it too early and ate it all. (The kids helped, of course.) Then, while walking around Costco, I sampled some pumpkin bread. My GF girls were offended that they couldn't have some, so I decided that I would make a gluten free version for them. It turned out so well that I've promoted it to "Chief Neighborhood Treat Plate Filler". Good name, huh?

I had initially intended to use my banana bread recipe and just use pumpkin instead of bananas (plus add some of the right kind of pumpkin appropriate spices). But when I started looking at pumpkin bread recipes online, I realized that they all had at least TWICE as much sugar as my banana bread and a lot more oil. I suppose that the reason for the extra sugar is because pumpkin is nowhere near as sweet as over-ripe bananas. I wasn't sure about the extra oil, but I decided it might have a good reason, too. So I took an online recipe, changed several things (used GF flours, changed the spices to match MY ideas of good pumpkin spices, etc), and baked away. The Costco version was covered with Cream Cheese Frosting. I haven't added frosting to mine because it's so darn good without it! (I must admit that my children have been having a heyday with the Nutella, though. Evidently they believe that chocolate hazelnut butter is the best accompaniment to pumpkin things ever invented. And I haven't really argued too much about it. Who could?)

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Well, maybe not. This is the proof of our second cookbook. We found a few boo-boos, but once those are fixed, we are all ready to print lots and lots of them! Isn't it pretty? Well, it's prettier in person . . . but it's still pretty darn exciting!

My neighbor's son came home from school with a recipe for Monster Cookies, begging his mom to make them. Being eight months pregnant, the last thing she wanted to do was sit in the kitchen and experiment with a new cookie recipe. She called me and together we slaved over these beasts. (We didn't really, but we tell the kids that so they love us more.) Since the title implies that they are extremely large cookies, that is how I made them. You should have seen kids' delight when I handed them their gigantic treat. And the best part is that they were delicious! Even though they were big, I still ate three!

Friday, December 2, 2011

My neighbor is six months pregnant and one day she had a really strong craving for red velvet cake. She told me that we either needed to make the cake, or she was going to go buy one and make herself sick. Needless to say, we made the cake. It turned out beautiful. The picture doesn't quite do it justice. The color was a deep red, and the cake itself tasted amazing. Happy Cooking!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Just the word makes you want take a big breath and brace yourself for the chaos that always comes before the holiday. This is the holiday that is all about food. For some that can be either really satisfying or vastly disappointing. Hopefully, with the help of our recipes on our blog and website (eatingglutenfree.com), we have made the holiday easier and more enjoyable for you.

And to add to those recipes, I just made the easiest lemon meringue pie ever! It was seriously, amazing. If you have time, give it a try and let me know what you think!

Distribute meringue evenly over the top, starting with the edges, and then the middle. As you top the pie lift up the back of the spoon and create peaks in the meringue. Bake about 20 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown.

Choose and prepare a GF crust. (We recommend using the chocolate oreo cookies as a crust. Make it as directed, but instead of cutting it into circles, press it into a pie pan and bake at 375 for 10 minutes.)

In a large mixing bowl cream the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven. Fill each cookie with ½–1 teaspoon of jam. Bake 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely on the pan.

Variations:Instead of using jam, try Hershey kisses, caramel, or peanut butter. You could also use the cookie dough as a base for turtle cookies (caramel, pecans, and chocolate drizzled on top), or as a base for a cream pie.

* Don’t substitute margarine in this recipe. The cookies will not turn out as good.

Friday, November 4, 2011

These are really good with vegetable garden cream cheese or plain cream cheese and jam. The trick is to not let them rise at all and to make sure that you add more water as it boils down; otherwise they taste like baking soda. This dough also works amazingly well for calzones or bagel pizzas. Yum!

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and xanthan gum; mix well. Add yeast to the top of the dry ingredients, but don’t mix in.

Pour warm water on top of the yeast and let it sit for 30 seconds. Mix on low speed until blended. Add vinegar and mayonnaise. Beat for 2–3 minutes on high speed.

Roll dough into snake-like forms, connecting the ends to form a thick bagel-shaped circle.

In a large pan, boil water and baking soda. Immediately place shaped dough in boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove it and place it on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg yolk.

Place bagels in preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes. Store in a Ziploc bag in your fridge or freezer. Reheat individually in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Variations: Add ½ c. blueberries or ¼ c. ground sundried tomatoes to the dough before baking, or try sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on the bagels once they are baked, or topping them with grated cheese.

Friday, October 14, 2011

My mother, Vickie Rowley, is the best ever. She came up with this recipe years ago and it quickly became a family favorite. We’ve taken it to several functions and always come home with an empty jar. The best thing about it is it’s not too difficult. – Kirsti

I never knew what these cookies were called until Betsy told me. I just called them the "little white ball cookies," but they actually have more than one name, and both names (tea cake cookies and wedding cookies) fit them perfectly. They are easy to make but seem a lot more elegant than a chocolate chip cookie. – Kirsti

Thursday, September 29, 2011

It was 5:00 p.m. and I realized that tomorrow was dad's and donuts at school. On top of that my son had been invited to a birthday party, the next day, where donuts were going to be the main desert. I thought about just shrugging my shoulders and saying "oh well." But, my overactive guilt complex kicked in last minute and I decided to try throwing the cursed desert together. I did not want to be up all night frying donuts so I looked up a couple easy baked donut recipes online and went for it. They turned out better than expected, and when they were done I was extremely grateful I did not have to make donuts and cupcakes, or donuts and some other random desert. Huzzah for the overlapping of desert and activities!!

Monday, September 19, 2011

To start off, I must just mention how thoroughly I hate potato salad. I do not like mustard. I do not like mayo or salad dressing. I despise pickles. I do not even like to be inside a house where potatoes and eggs are cooking at the same time.

So, that being said, I will add: I LOVE this potato salad recipe, probably because it is nothing like any other potato salad I've encountered. It was brought to a family get-together by my husband's cousin, and I have no idea who initially created it, but it's genius.

Cut red potatoes into about 1/2 inch cubes. Place them in a big pot and cover them with hot water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer potatoes for 20 minutes or until a fork enters easily and the potatoes are soft all through. Remove from heat and drain.

In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix. Add green onions and crumbled bacon. Add drained potatoes and stir well, until potatoes are well coated. Serve warm, or place in the refrigerator and serve cold later.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Now that school is back in session, I'm working on making varied gluten free lunches. There are definite benefits to having my gluten free kids bring lunches from home; I know that they are getting food that tastes good, and I know that their food is truly gluten free and hasn't been cross contaminated by a poorly trained cafeteria worker. On the other hand, I do have to spend some time coming up with interesting lunch variations so they don't get bored to death with the same old same old.

When I was younger, my mother would put cream cheese frosting on graham crackers and pack them in our lunches. I decided that I would do the same for my kids . . . though it's really more of a "based on a true story" movie than a documentary. (Did that metaphor make sense? It did in my head, but now that it's out on the page it seems a little odd. Ah, well.)

So I decided to take my oat biscuit dough (which I usually have in my fridge), roll it out thin, make cinnamon-sugary crackers out of it, slap frosting on/between them, and send them off to school with them. And . . . it works! (Of course it does, don't be ridiculous.) So now I will share with you the very complex and tricky recipe for these delicious treats. Enjoy!

Roll biscuit dough out very thinly. (If the dough has been in the refrigerator, you may want to microwave it for 10 seconds or so in order to make it easy to roll it out.) Spread the melted butter over the surface of the dough.

In a small bowl (or ziplock bag), combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on the butter. (You won't need to use all the cinnamon sugar. Save the rest for another day.)

Use a pizza cutter (or a knife, if you insist) to cut the dough into whatever size of crackers you'd like.

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until cracker edges are browned and crackers are crispy. Remove from oven and cool completely. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting or eat plain.

In a saucepan place 2 tablespoons of oil, onion, ginger, garlic, red curry paste, and sugar. Sauté for one minute. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut the chicken breasts into ½” cubes. In a large frying pan heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, then add chicken. Cook just until the chicken is no longer pink in the center. Add zucchini and corn. Cook about 3 minutes more, then add curry sauce and cherry tomatoes. Heat through. Add cilantro just before serving.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Hello, again! Long time no see. I've been family reunioning and recuperating from family reunioning for the last several weeks. As you will no doubt have realized, I haven't been posting anything. I thought about going in and typing up several posts and fiddling with the posting dates so it would LOOK as though I had been posting things, but I decided that I just couldn't stoop to that kind of subterfuge. Besides, that would mean that I would have to type up lots of recipes, and I just wasn't feeling it. So instead I'm just going to say: "Vacation was fun!" and start working on being reliable again.

This is a recipe that my mother-in-law makes with whole wheat. When we got home I tried it with gluten free whole oats (also knows as oat groats), and they were just as yummy. Let me know what you think!

Place oats and milk in a blender. Blend on medium high speed for 4 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high speed until combined. Bake on a 350 degree griddle. Serve with Berry Syrup and whipped cream.**

*I have used gluten free rolled oats instead, but the texture wasn't quite the same. They baked differently. I'm going to keep experimenting, though, because the gf rolled oats are much easier to find than the whole oats.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

A week or so ago, the city of Orem threw their "Summerfest" party. It's several days of baby contests, carnival rides, fireworks, and (of course) carnival foods. I managed to keep my kids out of the food areas this year, but those fair-time food smells (mostly of things frying!) sort of lingered over the whole park. I would almost never buy carnival food at a carnival even if we didn't have our gluten issues, because I am too thrifty; I just can't imagine paying $4 for something that I KNOW costs no more than 20 cents to make! But the smells are certainly enticing.

So . . . I come home and make gluten free versions! It's much cheaper and tastes just as good. (In fact, last year I shared our gluten free funnel cakes with my neighbor's family. She'd never had funnel cakes before, but after eating mine she said: "Oh, great. Now I'm going to have to buy these the next time I go to a carnival.")

Pour the batter into a drink bottle with a squeeze top. (A clean, empty syrup bottle or dish soap bottle would also work. Or you can use a funnel, covering the bottom of the funnel with your finger when you don’t want the batter dripping into the oil, but it’s messier and irritating, and I’d suggest NOT using a funnel if you can avoid it.)

Squeeze batter into hot oil, using a spiral motion, and overlapping the lines of batter. (If you just do concentric circles, you won’t be able to turn it over; it will just fall apart.) Fry to a golden brown (about 2 minutes per side.)

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

We have never been completely satisfied with our current bread recipe so over the past couple of months we have been doing what we do best . . . experimenting. This is Betsy's latest test, and we think it may be the winner, but we want your feedback, so please let us know what worked and what did not.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

What better way to celebrate than making, and especially eating, crepes! My children love to fill them with whipping cream and strawberries. My husband likes them with bananas and chocolate. With this recipe, how you serve them is up to you. Happy Cooking!

In a large bowl, beat milk, eggs, and melted butter until smooth. Slowly add salt, xanthan gum and flours. Mix until the batter is the consistency of heavy cream.

Heat a 6-inch crepe pan or a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. (If your pan is older, it sometimes helps to spray it with non-stick cooking spray.) Spoon 2 to 4 tablespoons of batter into the bottom of the pan. Move pan from side to side to coat bottom.

Brown the crepe on one side and then flip with a spatula and brown the other side. Keep warm in the oven. Serve with your favorite toppings.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Ha ha! Two posts in one weekend! I feel very productive. This is a quick holiday side dish that is a perennial favorite at my house. In fact, my 2 year old was eating it out of the pan with a spoon today. Fabulous with corn chips, this is a great barbeque side dish.

Friday, May 27, 2011

This is not an in-depth recipe. It doesn't take a lot of time or a lot of ingredients. But it's WAY better (and much cheaper) than store bought guacamole, takes only a few minutes, and is a great holiday barbeque side dish. Oh, and P.S., on Monday I'll post my 7 layer dip recipe. Also not hard, but delicious.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Some people are not fish people. I am not one of those people. I used to be one of those people, but lately, I am really liking the fish. If you, however, are still one of those people, feel free to disregard the following recipe. If you are not one of those people, try this recipe, it is sooooooo yummy. (Notice how many o's I put in that "so"). - Kirsti

Friday, May 6, 2011

Oh, glory. How did it get to be Friday? I have no idea where this week went. Between the peanut butter filled chocolate roses, the mounds-bar-type-filling filled roses, and the fabric partially-sewn-but-kind-of-held-together-with-hot-glue daisies (Teacher Appreciation Week . . .), the whole week has just disappeared. So, in keeping with the "I don't have enough time to do anything" theme, I am posting a quick, quick recipe.

I've tried other recipes for macaroons, but have always been rather underwhelmed. One was so sticky that they wouldn't come off the parchment paper, and the other was more like meringue. (Is that right? Meringue? Merengue? I'm too lazy to open a Word document and use the spell checker to check.) These, however, tasted just like I wanted them to. In fact, if I had more of them right now, I think that I would probably eat them for breakfast. (That is, I would eat them for breakfast if I weren't restricting my sugar intake. But I am, so I wouldn't. Eat them. Probably.) They spread out a little oddly at the bottom, which I'm thinking is because of the lack of gluten to help hold the egg whites together inside the cookie. I'll make them again one of these days and see if they need xanthan gum or if they'll be just fine if I smoosh the cookies down a bit before baking. Maybe one of you will try it and let me know what you find out . . . . In the meantime, this is how I made them.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

So, on Easter I invited a lot of my extended family over for dessert. It seemed like a good idea. I still maintain that it was a good idea. But, oh, the temporary insanity it caused. Oh, my.

For the following story to be as funny to you as it was to me, I must make several things clear from the outset. First of all, I have a very large extended family. I knew people in high school who complained about how much they disliked attending family reunions because "I have like 10 cousins and I don't know any of them." I marvelled at such statements, partly because I love family reunions, but mostly because I know and love most of my approximately 100 first cousins (about 50 on each side of my family). Not very many of them live here in Utah, but since we are all getting older and having our own children, family gatherings can get pretty large very quickly. I knew that I would be feeding about 30 people - give or take a few. The second thing that made my adventure so adventurous is that I don't go shopping on Sundays unless someone becomes suddenly ill and needs medicine. I just don't. It is part of my personal committment to keep the Sabbath Day holy. The final crazy-maker may sound like a nonsensical thing, but it is almost the crux of the whole story: I went on vacation to Washington for spring break and spent a week at my mother's house. We returned from this trip just one week before our story opens . . .

So, on Easter Sunday I invited a lot of my extended family over for dessert. I told everyone that I would be making strawberry pizza (mmmmmm) and something else. Most people volunteered to bring something to share as well, but I was going to be the main dessert maker. This was not going to be a big deal. I like baking and making desserts, and I always have all sorts of dessert-type ingredients on hand. I am one of the few people I know who generally has 5 or 6 boxes of cream cheese in the fridge just in case I get an uncontrollable urge to make cheesecake or something equally as yummy. To make a 13 x 18 pan of Strawberry Pizza, for example, I knew that I would need 3 boxes of cream cheese - one for the crust and 2 for the sweet cream cheese layer betweeen the crust and the berries. This was not a big deal. I knew that I had purchased 3 boxes of cream cheese on a recent shopping trip, had used a couple and had then gone back and purchased 3 more. I was set. In fact I knew that I had enough cream cheese in my fridge to make a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting as well, so that became our "other dessert."

Well, I got my children working on the parts of the desserts that they were capable of helping me with. Three of them began cutting up strawberries and the oldest began putting together the carrot cake. (It's a wonderful carrot cake. My father's sister (who doesn't eat gluten free) says it is the best carrot cake she has ever had.) I helped my 12 year old grind up the carrots, then let her go to town mixing together the rest of the ingredients. Meanwhile, I went to the fridge to pull out the cream cheese.

This is where our troubles began. You remember how I told you that I knew I had purchased lots of cream cheese? You also remember how I told you that I had been visiting my mother in Washington state? Yeah. All the cream cheese that I distinctly remembered purchasing was (and still is, for all I know) in my mother's refrigerator. I had 2 boxes of cream cheese in the fridge, but this was not enough to make the strawberry pizza, let alone the frosting for a 13 x 18 carrot cake. Aaaaand this was Sunday (when I don't go shopping), and Easter (when most of my baking neighbors were gone visiting their own families). *Sigh*

So I got on the phone and managed to find one friend who had one package of cream cheese that I could borrow. (If she had wanted, I would now be obligated to give her my next born child. Fortunately she has several of her own and is uninterested in obtaining more at this time.) Now I had 3 packages of cream cheese . . . but I needed 5. So I decided to improvise. If I just frosted the cake very lightly, I could get away with only using one package of cream cheese in the frosting, so then I would only need 4 boxes total. I decided that I would try to make the crust for the pizza just using butter (omitting the cream cheese). Okay. We would be fine. Except that I got the proportions wrong somehow, and the crust (containing a full pound of butter) turned into a bubbling mess that was nothing like a crust. *Sigh*

Okay. I'd have to make another crust and just do a really thin cream cheese layer. First though (as it was getting rather late) I'd have to make the glaze for the strawberries. This was when I discovered that I had less than one cup of sugar left in the house. Don't ask me how this happened, because I really don't know. I buy sugar 25 lbs. at a time. I keep extra bags in my basement. Just one day earlier I had asked Troy to double check on the amount of sugar we had left. And I was still out of sugar. With 30 people coming over for dessert. *Sigh*

Do you know how hard it is to make a dessert when you have no sugar?!? I did a frantic mental search of my recipes, trying to come up with something sweet that didn't require sugar or too much cream cheese. The only thing I could come up with was Cocoa Pebbles treats. That was okay, though. I like Cocoa Pebbles treats, and I had recently purchased 2 boxes of Pebbles, too. So I got started on them (using my gigantic Campfire marshmallows because I didn't have any smaller ones), only to find (when I sent children downstairs to fetch the cereal) that my Cocoa Pebbles were chillin' with my cream cheese. At my mother's house. In Washington. *Sigh*

So I added some peanut butter to my melted marshmallow goop, hoping to make something similar to Chocolate Scotcharoos. FYI: That doesn't work very well. *Sigh*

So I made the frosting for the carrot cake (which turned out beautifully), and frosted the cake. Then, with about 15 minutes left before everyone was supposed to be showing up, I remembered that my microwave caramel corn recipe only needs brown sugar, which I had in abundance. Okay. Here we go! Microwave caramel corn! Yeah. Scorched it. Not irreparably, but STILL! Like the first 18 disasters weren't enough! *Sigh*

So I took the remaining cream cheese and combined it with some marshmallow creme that I had sitting in the pantry (past its "Best By" date, but still as fluffy and fresh as that stuff ever is) and made fruit dip for the 2 lbs. of sliced strawberries that were sitting on the table. And then my daughter asked if the microwave popcorn were done and I said "Yes, get it out," and she got it out, and the heavy glass carousel tray came out, too, and fortunately missed her foot on its way to shattering. *Sigh*

And just about then my family arrived, and a good time was had by all, probably due to the fabulousness of the carrot cake. The end.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Did you miss me last week? I am currently recovering from the aftereffects of a Spring Break jaunt to Washington State. It was a lovely trip, but bookended by 12 hour drives with 5 young girls (which inevitably means a bajillion potty breaks). There are still a couple of unpacked suitcases scattered around the house because the older girls are supposed to unpack their own clothes and I haven't yet begun to breathe down their necks about it. Tonight, my pretties! The end of suitcase procrastination is nigh!

Speaking of procrastination . . . I didn't post a recipe during Spring Break (which I feel was practically justifiable), and here it is Wednesday and I still haven't posted one for this week either. I feel (almost) guilty, and will repair the omission at once. This recipe was modified by my brother-in-law, then my mother-in-law, then myself. (I love hand-me-down recipes!) They are my absolute favorite banana muffins, and (thanks to Spring Break) I have some overripe bananas sitting on the counter just waiting to be muffinized. (Also some not-quite-bad milk that needs to be used in frozen waffles.) Baking time today!

Monday, April 4, 2011

When I was in the second grade (Mrs. Hanratty's class, and she was the best teacher ever!), we made a class cookbook. One of the boys (I think his name was Jimmy) submitted a recipe called "Chocolate Scotcharoos." I never tried it because 1.) it was submitted by a boy (ewwww), and 2.) I didn't think it sounded very good. It wasn't until I had been married for several years that I learned my mistake.

I'm not positive where or when I acquired this recipe. It's on an 8.5 by 1.5" piece of paper. It's folded and oil/water/mystery ingredient spattered, and has been written on with blue ball point. It has been well used, 'cause it's delicious. I made some about a week ago, and my sister (as she reached for more) said: "This was a bad idea." My 6th grader took one to school in her lunch and shared it with her friends. Now I have been requested to supply 8 or 9 copies of the recipe! I've had people tell me: "I've been looking for this recipe for years!" And if you weren't looking for this recipe . . . well, maybe you should have been!

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Let it boil for about 20 seconds, then remove it from the heat. Stir in the peanut butter.

Place the cereal in a large bowl. Pour the peanut butter syrup mixture over the cereal and stir well. Press lightly onto a buttered (or parchment paper lined) pan. (I generally spread mine in a 13x18" cookie sheet.)

Combine chocolate and butterscotch chips in a microwaveable bowl. Heat the chips in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring gently after each time, just until melted. (This usually takes about 1.5 minutes.) Spread chocolate mixture over the cereal. Cool until chocolate is set. Cut into bars and serve.

*Hershey's are currently gluten free. Nestle's, however, contain barley, so don't use them!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

This is one of the recipes I taught at our class last night. As anyone who really loves me (and was therefore at my class) will tell you, it was FABULOUS. The strawberry pie was also really good . . . but you'll have to wait for another week or so before I post that one. Don't you wish you'd been at Macey's with me last night?

Press cookie dough evenly into a 9" pie plate, covering the bottom and the sides. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the cookie dough doesn't smoosh under your fingers when lightly touched. Remove from oven and cool thoroughly.

Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, cream together cream cheese, peanut butter, vanilla, and sugar until smooth. Add cream and whisk on high speed until the mixture thickens and gets kind of fluffy. (This only takes about a minute with my mixer, but it's a really good one.)

Spread filling into cooled crust. Drizzle with warmed fudge sauce (I put it in a sandwich bag and microwave it for 5 seconds, then poke a hole in the bag with a toothpick and squeeze lines of fudge sauce over the pie). Garnish with chopped peanut butter cups.

Serve.

*If you’ve got a big sweet tooth, use the larger amount of sugar.

**I have this in my fridge all the time, which is why I used it in this recipe. You can use Hershey's syrup if you want, but I won't guarantee that it will taste as good!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I was going to post a picture of this cake and after it was all baked and beautifully glazed. I went and grabbed my camera only to discover that it's batteries were dead. No problem, I'd use the camera feature on my video camera . . also dead. I still wasn't worried cause I had my old digital camera. Dead as well.

I tried to persuade my children not to touch the cake until the batteries on one of the cameras had charged, but the next time I turned around a huge piece was missing. So, I threw my hands up into the air and we all ate cake. I guess if you want to see a picture of the cake, you have to make it and take it with your camera . . unless it's battery is dead as well? Enjoy! –Kirsti

Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temp for 30 minutes. Combine flours, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Using a mixer, cream butter, sugar, and pudding mix for 2 to 3 minutes on high speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mix and milk, ending with flour. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, combine all the icing ingredients and mix well. As soon as you pull the cake out from the oven, take a fork and poke holes all over the top of the cake. Immediately ice the cake while it is still warm, so that the icing melts and turns into a glaze.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Okay, I admit it. I don't blog as frequently as I should. And the only reason we've been posting a recipe a week so far this year is because Kirsti is really good at making me feel motivated. So I will readily admit to cheating a little bit and posting two recipes (which actually belong together) as separate posts. I excuse myself to myself on the grounds that someone else might be looking for this frosting recipe for use on a different cake than the one that I used it on, so it really is justifiable to pretend that I've written two distinct posts this week. Right? Right??

Heat butter and evaporated milk over medium high heat until butter melts. Turn off heat. Add brown sugar and stir until the sugar crystals are mostly all dissolved. (The mixture shouldn't feel gritty when you you stick a finger into it.) (Not that I am suggesting that you should stick a finger into it . . . at least, not while it's still really hot, and definitely not while anyone else is looking.)

Add coconut and chopped pecans. Mix well. Stick it in the fridge to cool completely. Stir again before covering your cake with it.

Oh, and you might want to double the recipe. One recipe is just enough to cover a 9x13" cake. But who doesn't need leftovers of this, huh?

Yesterday we decided to celebrate the (tentative) arrival of spring weather by having some neighborhood friends over for a Dessert Night. There were 19 kids around the swingset having a good time, and the party didn't break up until my barefoot toes began to freeze and the several of the kids began (literally) howling at an imaginary moon. (It only took an hour and 15 minutes to get to that point, but it was fun while it lasted, anyway!)

I made a Peanut Butter Cup Pie and this Coconut Cream cake, neither of which survived the evening. I guess they must have been as good as I thought they were!

Cream together butter, sugar, and dry pudding mix. Add all dry ingredients and mix together with a stand mixer until it resembles small crumbs. (This might work with a hand mixer . . . I just don't know because I haven't tried it.) Add eggs, vanilla, and milk. Beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed for about 3 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely. Top with Coconut Pecan Frosting (which I have posted in a separate post, so as to make myself feel more productive).

Monday, February 28, 2011

When I was in 6th grade, I took a couple of cooking classes. Those classes taught me a number of important things. First of all, never never never cook with expired clams. Secondly, seaweed is a comestible (I refuse to call it food) that I do not want to eat again. Finally, refrigerator biscuits dipped in butter and brown sugar taste really good.

While gluten free refrigerator biscuits do not, to my knowledge, exist, the good news is that I have found a gluten free biscuit recipe that I love and which works just as well. My sister and her husband created this recipe after she discovered that she is allergic to rice. Until I tasted these, I had resigned myself to the fact that I was always going to hate gluten free biscuits. They never had the right texture or flavor, and I had mostly given up trying. Since my sister shared these with me, though, I've begun to make biscuits about once a week. They're not only quick and easy, but they taste wonderful!

Place dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add shortening and butter. Mix on medium speed until shortening is blended in. (Mixture will look like small crumbs.) Add milk. Mix until well combined. Let sit for a couple of minutes. Gather dough into a ball.**

Press some of the biscuit dough out on a flat piece of parchment paper (or a lightly floured*** surface) about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter. Place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until doubled in size and lightly browned.

To make Biscuit Coffee Cakes, cut out biscuits as directed above. Dip both sides of each biscuit in melted butter. Place each biscuit face down in brown sugar, then place the biscuits brown-sugar-side up on a baking sheet or pie plate. (The biscuits may be placed touching each other or with space between them.) Bake for about 15 minutes.

*I make this at home by taking my gluten free oats (which cost $3.00 a pound, unfortunately) and grinding them finely in a blender. I really like them to be ground very finely, but you can leave some slightly larger bits if you'd like.

**These biscuits taste best fresh, but the unused dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. So place leftover dough in a Ziploc bag, seal it tightly, throw it in your fridge, and make biscuits in moments any day of the week. Refrigerator biscuits ahoy!

***I'd use featherlight mix or cornstarch. Well, actually, I'd use parchment paper cause it's really easy to clean up, but I think that featherlight or cornstarch would work the best if you want to choose the "lightly floured surface" route.

Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil on medium high. Sauté chicken breasts 4–5 minutes per side or until done. Remove pan from the heat and allow chicken to cool. As the chicken cools, mince water chestnuts, mushrooms, celery, and onion to the size of small peas. When cooled, mince chicken to the same size.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, if needed. Return pan to medium-high heat and stir-fry the chicken and vegetables, adding the soy sauce mixture after about 1 minute.

In a small saucepan, mix together all the ingredients for the sauce. Heat the sauce just until it boils. Turn off heat. Add ½ the sauce to the chicken mixture.** Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve the chicken mixture wrapped in lettuce leaves with the remaining sauce on the side.

*This is a hot sauce that I buy from Gifts of Nature (online). You can use another type of hot sauce if you like.

** If desired, you can mix all of the sauce directly into the chicken mixture.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

My neighbor Cyndi invented a recipe for Oreo Pie that is to die for. It is so good that I can't even think of appropriate descriptions. She was kind enough to tell me her secrets so I could make a gluten free one. (Her only stipulation was: "If you get to be a millionaire off of this, I want royalties!") I changed things a little, but this is essentially her creation. Thanks for sharing, Cyndi!

Press cookie dough evenly into a 9" pie plate, covering the bottom and the sides. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the cookie dough doesn't smoosh under your fingers when lightly touched. Remove from oven and cool thoroughly.

Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, cream together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sugar until smooth. Add oreos and mix well, leaving some larger pieces of cookie. Add cream and whisk on high speed until the mixture thickens and gets kind of fluffy. (This only takes about a minute with my mixer, but it's a really good one. It might take a little longer with a kitchen-aid.)

Spread filling into cooled crust. Garnish with additional oreos. Serve. Try not to eat the whole thing by yourself.

*This is a technical term that means "as many as you want." Cyndi says she uses a full pound of regular oreos. I probably used about half that much. I rolled about 2 cups of cookie dough out flat in the bottom of a 9x13 pan, baked it until it was firm in the middle, cut it into big rectangles with a cookie cutter, let it cool, filled them with lots of oreo filling, then threw them into the mixer.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Okay. It has come to my attention that I have made it rather difficult to find the recipes that I posted for the flour mixes that we are constantly referring to. I'm not really sure how I came to do that. I'm sure that I didn't MEAN to do that. But, however that may be, I am going to remedy the problem right now. So sorry!

The first two mixes listed below were created by Bette Hagman, one of the pioneering writers of gluten free cookbooks. (She wrote the Gluten Free Gourmet cookbooks.) The third is the combination of flours that Kirsti and I use most often. We find that it replicates the taste and texture of "regular" flours better than any other combinations we've tried.

GF Mix

6 c. rice flour2 c. potato STARCH*1 c. tapioca starch

Featherlight Mix

1 c. rice flour1 c. tapioca starch1 c. cornstarch1 Tbs. potato FLOUR*

EGF All Purpose Flour Mix

3 c. Featherlight mix1 c. GF mix

I mix up large batches of flour mixes at one time and keep them in my cabinet.

*Potato flour is not the same as potato starch. Make sure you use the right one!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

We taught this recipe at our last class and it was a huge success! I thought I'd post it here, just in case you weren't able to come to our last class.

I came up with this recipe one night when I was in a hurry. We were eating lasagna, and I wanted bread, but I didn't want to go to the trouble of making breadsticks; I just wanted something I could slap on a pan, let rise, and cook. That night I fed my family plus four other adult guests and five extra children. The bread was the first thing gone! – Kirsti

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Sprinkle yeast on top of dry ingredients but don’t mix it in. Pour warm water on top of yeast and let it sit for 1–2 minutes. Add rice vinegar and oil; beat for about 30 seconds. With your mixer on low speed, add egg whites one at a time. Turn mixer on high speed and beat for 4–5 minutes. The dough should be thick but not dry and crumbly. If it is too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it forms a ball.

On a greased cookie sheet, form the dough in a long oval. (Wet your fingers with water to smooth out the top.) Let rise for 20 minutes.

Bake 25–30 minutes, or until the loaf is nicely browned and makes a hollow sound when tapped.

Monday, January 31, 2011

My neighbor and good friend called me in a panic one night. Her 15-year-old sister really wanted a spicy chicken sandwich that tasted just like Wendy’s for her birthday dinner, and she didn’t know where to start. I looked up some recipes, and we went from there. They turned out fabulous! Her sister loved them. So, if you are missing that spicy chicken sandwich, give this recipe a try! – Kirsti

Mix the chipotle sauce and water in a medium-sized bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, garlic salt, cayenne, pepper, and paprika.

Cut the chicken breasts so they are half as thick. Then cut them in half width-wise so each piece will fit easily on a bun. Use the flat side of a meat tenderizer to pound each piece of chicken until flat.

Dip each piece of chicken first into the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients, and then the dry again to completely coat them in batter.

Deep-fry each piece of chicken until cooked all the way through, approximately 4–5 minutes.

Monday, January 24, 2011

I wanted to make these gluten free from the first time I tasted them. I went online and looked at recipes, and this is what I came up with. They were surprisingly easy, and I’m now kicking myself for waiting so long. My only advice is to make sure you don’t add too much cinnamon, because sometimes more is not better. – Kirsti

Preheat 4 cups of vegetable oil in a 10–12” frying pan or a deep-fryer. In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the water, brown sugar, salt, and butter and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and add the flour and xanthan gum. Mix by hand until well blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla together. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until all the egg is completely mixed in.

Fill a decorating tool (I used one from Pampered Chef), or a Ziploc bag with a hole cut in the end, with the dough. Attach the largest star tip you have to the decorating tool, Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, or pastry bag. Fill the bag with the dough.

Test your oil by placing a small amount of dough in it. If the oil is hot enough, the dough will bubble up to the surface right away. Once the oil is hot enough, squeeze 4” long lines of dough into the oil. Use a butter knife to release the dough from the decorator tip.

Cook about 1 minute and then turn with a slotted spoon. Cook an additional minute or two until golden brown. Remove the churros with the slotted spoon and allow them to drain on paper towels.

While still warm, roll each churro the cinnamon sugar until coated.

These are great hot or cold! For a fabulous cold-weather treat, serve with hot chocolate and whipped cream.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

I needed something to make with the extra pumpkin I had in the fridge, and since it was close to Halloween I decided on pumpkin muffins. It took several tries to get these right, but I eventually did and they are yummy. – Kirsti

Using an electric mixer, whip the butter until creamy. Add the sugar, and beat until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in pumpkin, vanilla, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, sour cream, and spices. Alternately add flour and milk, mixing well after each addition.

About Me

Eating Gluten Free, LLC was established in 2006. We are two moms who don't have celiac but who cook for people who do. Our goal is to make gluten free products that everyone will love, because the end of wheat shouldn't mean the end of good food.